It's not a threat, it's the truth,' Alexei countered harshly. 'Either you're with me, or you're not. I won't play games.'
In mute frustration, she watched him tug her wrap from the hook on the back of the door and extend it to her. He had the subtlety of an army tank on a battlefield. He had walked out on her and she longed to take a rebellious stance and defy his warning. But life just wasn't that simple, she acknowledged, digging damp arms into the sleeves of the wrap while letting her towel drop to her feet. She didn't know how to behave with him now, but he knew so well how to cut through all the aggravation to what really mattered. And what really mattered now was that she cared about him and loved him with all her heart, she reflected painfully. In his defence he was trying to bridge the gulf between them and their living in two separate houses would scupper any attempt to achieve that end.
'This isn't where you should be,' Alexei told her, his husky accent roughening his vowel sounds into a sexy growl as he backed her into the corner, wrenched the ties she was fiddling with from her grasp and knotted the sash with deft hands. 'You're coming home with me.'
And those words sounded so unexpectedly good to her that tears prickled at the backs of her aching eyes. The past fortnight of stress, gossip-column headlines and wild speculation had drained her strength and awakened her worst fears for the future. He contemplated her down-bent head and tipped up her chin so that he could see her triangular face again. The anxiety in her expressive eyes disturbed him but it didn't put a lid on the seething desire he was struggling to restrain. He had no idea why he wanted her so much at that moment. He only knew that her absence from his home where he had expected to find her had enraged and unsettled him to a degree that he was deeply uncomfortable with. Half-formed thoughts and jagged responses he didn't like were travelling through him, giving him an edgy and unfamiliar out-of-control sensation that he despised.
The atmosphere was so thick that Billie could taste it. He was frowning down at her, lean hands settling down on her shoulders with authority, the heat of him burning through the fine fabric of her wrap. She collided with scorching golden eyes and the quickening awareness low in her pelvis made her press her thighs together on the ache stirring between her legs. Uneasy with that piercing arrow of sheer wanton lust, she pulled away from him. 'I'll get dressed.'
'No.' Alexei closed a hand over her arm, pulling her back. 'There's no need. The car's outside. Someone will come over and pack for you.'
On the threshold of her bedroom, she stilled. 'What about Nicky?'
Alexei's big powerful body was resting lightly against hers, but when she posed that particular question he went rigid and his handsome dark visage set hard. 'He stays here.'
She twisted round, anguished eyes seeking his. 'I can't do that. He's my son, my responsibility.'
'You can visit…when I'm not around,' Alexei breathed with a raw note in his rich dark drawl. 'I'll cover his every need. He can have round-the-clock nannies, every luxury…'
'You can't ask me to choose between you!' Billie exclaimed wretchedly, suddenly grasping the devil's bargain he was laying down for her like a cruel gin-trap for the unwary foot.
Remorseless golden eyes struck her disbelieving gaze head-on. 'That's the deal for now and it's your choice.'